JJapanese Envoys in Britain, 1862-1964: A Century of Diplomatic Exchange, compiled and edited by Ian Nish. Global Oriental, 2007, 255 pp, 55 (cloth)

Next year Britain and Japan celebrate 150 years of diplomatic relations, and just on cue comes this book, "Japanese Envoys in Britain (1862-1964)," which contains biographical portraits of Japanese diplomatic representatives up to 1964. Its counterpart, "British Envoys in Japan," was published by the Japan Society in 2004 and is about to appear in Japanese translation. Now we have both sides of the story.

The Japanese envoys were a distinguished group. After their time in London, eight became foreign minister and two (Takaaki Kato and Shigeru Yoshida) became prime minister. So this book introduces not only the envoys to London but also many of the most important figures in Japanese foreign policy.

Their experiences mirror the history of the period. To start with, Japan was learning from the West, and there is much emphasis on the Japanese students sent to Britain and the British experts sent to Japan. Although Japanese diplomats struggled to have their country recognized as the equal of the European powers, they eventually succeeded not only in revising the "unequal" treaties but also in entering a formal alliance with Britain in 1902. This was the apogee of the friendship between the two countries. Sadly, later envoys had to contend with the slide into a war that none could prevent and, after the war, with the bitterness that it left behind.